Advancing Toward Professorship in Biology, Ecology, and Earth System Sciences

Multiple factors may interact with gender to convince women to opt out of careers as tenure track faculty. Rates of attrition in academia are particularly pronounced in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, which include biology, ecology and earth system sciences, or collectively, BEESS. In addition to the stressors that affect other STEM careers, paths in BEESS fields are unique in that they are inherently interdisciplinary, often require field work, and involve interactions with a broad range of stakeholders. We designed and conducted a workshop for an at-risk population of BEESS scientists—postdoctoral and tenure track, but pre-tenured scientists—who may not already have access to targeted professional development. We also conducted longitudinal research to determine the perceptions of career preparation and challenges of our participants, as well as to quantify the effect of our programming on those perceptions.